Dropping out of high school is related to a number of negative outcomes. For example, the average income of persons ages 18 through 65 who had not completed high school was roughly $20,100 in 2005.1 By comparison, the average income of persons ages 18 through 65 who completed their education with a high school credential, including a General Educational Development (GED) certificate, was nearly $29,700 (U.S. Census Bureau, 2006). Dropouts are also less likely to be in the labor force than those with a high school credential or higher and are more likely to be unemployed if they are in the labor force (U.S. Department of Labor, 2006). In terms of health, dropouts older than age 24 tend to report being in worse health than adults who are not dropouts, regardless of income (U.S. Department of Education, 2004). Dropouts also make up disproportionately higher percentages of the nation’s prison and death row inmates.2
This report builds upon a series of National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) reports on high school dropout and completion rates that began in 1988. It presents estimates of rates in 2005, provides data about trends3 in dropout and completion rates over the last three decades (1972–2005), and examines the characteristics of high school dropouts and high school completers in 2005. Four rates are presented to provide a broad picture of high school dropouts and completers in the United States, with each contributing unique information: the event dropout rate, the status dropout rate, the status completion rate, and the averaged freshman graduation rate.
Data presented in this report are drawn from the annual October Current Population Survey (CPS), the annual Common Core of Data (CCD) collections, and the annual GED Testing Service (GEDTS) statistical reports.5 Data in the CPS files are collected through household interviews and are representative of the civilian, noninstitutionalized population in the United States. The CCD data are collected from state education agencies about all public schools and school systems in the United States, and contain administrative records data kept by these agencies that are representative of all public school students in this country. The GEDTS data are also built from administrative record data kept by the testing service, and contain information about all GED test takers (data presented in this report are only for individuals in the 50 states and the District of Columbia).
As with all data collections, those used in this report are useful for calculating some estimates but are poorly suited for calculating other types of estimates. For example, CPS data are well suited for studying the civilian, noninstitutionalized population in the United States, but do not provide information about military personnel or individuals residing in group quarters, such as prison inmates. Data from CCD are appropriate for studying public school students in a given year, but do not provide information on private school students. GEDTS data are helpful for identifying the number of people who take and pass the GED examination in a given year, but do not contain information about schools that GED test takers attended before taking the GED test. In addition, none of the datasets track individual students over time, limiting their usefulness for studying processes and precise timelines associated with completing high school or dropping out.
All changes or differences noted in this report are statistically significant at the p ≤ .05 level. When significance tests fail to meet the p ≤ .05 criterion and the comparison is of substantive interest, terminology such as “no measurable difference was found” is used in this report. This does not necessarily mean that there is no actual difference between the compared estimates. With a larger sample, the difference may or may not have tested significant at the p ≤ .05 level.